Handbook of Information Security Management
(Publisher: CRC Press LLC)
Author(s): Hal Tipton and Micki Krause, Consulting Editors
ISBN: 0849399475
Publication Date: 01/01/98

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SECURE WWW CLIENT CONFIGURATION

There is much more reliance on the knowledge and cooperation of the end user and the use of a combination of desktop and workstation software, security control parameters within client software, and security products all working together to mimic the security of the mainframe and distributed application’s environments. Consider the areas below during the risk assessment process and the design of WWW security solution sets.

  • Ensure that all internal and external company-used workstations have resident and active antivirus software products installed. Preferably use a minimum number of vendor products to reduce security support and vulnerabilities as there are varying vendor schedules for providing virus signature updates.
  • Ensure that all workstation and browser client software is preconfigured to return all WWW and other external file transfers to temporary files on the desktop. Under no circumstances should client server applications or process-to-process automated routines download files to system files, preference files, bat files, start-up files, etc.
  • Ensure that JAVA script is turned off in the browser client software desktop configuration.
  • Configure browser client software to automatically flush the cache, either upon closing the browser or disconnecting from each Web site.
  • When possible or available, implement one of the new security products that scans WWW downloads for viruses.
  • Provide user awareness and education to all desktop WWW and Internet users to alert them to the inherent dangers involved in using the Internet and WWW. Include information on detecting problems, their roles and responsibilities, your expectations, security products available, how to set and configure their workstations and program products, etc.
  • Suggest or mandate the use of screen savers, security software programs, etc., in conjunction with your security policies and distributed security architectures.

This is a list of current areas of concern from a security perspective. There are options that when combined can tailor the browser to the specifications of individual workgroups or individuals. These options will evolve with the browser technology. The list should continue to be modified as security problems are corrected or as new problems occur.

AUDIT TOOLS AND CAPABILITIES

As we move further and further from the “good old days” when we were readily able to secure the “glass house”, we rely more on good and sound auditing practices. As acknowledged throughout this chapter, security control mechanisms are mediocre at best in today’s distributed networking and computing environments. Today’s auditing strategies must be robust, available across multiple heterogeneous platforms, computing and network based, real-time and automated, and integrated across the enterprise.

Today, information assets are distributed all over the enterprise, and therefore auditing strategies must acknowledge and accept this challenge and accommodate more robust and dicey requirements. As is the case when implementing distributed security control mechanisms, in the audit environment there are also many players and functional support areas involved in collecting, integrating, synthesizing, reporting, and reconciling audit trails and audit information. The list includes applications and applications developers and programs, data base management systems and data base administrators, operating systems and systems administrators, local area network (LAN) administrators and network operating systems (NOS), security administrators and security software products, problem reporting and tracking systems and helpline administrators, and others unique to the company’s environment.

As well as real-time, the audit system should provide for tracking and alarming, both to the systems and network management systems, and via pagers to support personnel. Policies and procedures should be developed for handling alarms and problems, i.e., isolate and monitor, disconnect, etc.

There are many audit facilities available today, including special audit software products for the Internet, distributed client server environments, WWW clients and servers, Internet firewalls, E-mail, News Groups, etc. The application of one or more of these must be consistent with your risk assessment, security requirements, technology availability, etc. The most important point to make here is the fundamental need to centralize distributed systems auditing (not an oxymoron). Centrally collect, sort, delete, process, report, take action and store critical audit information. Automate any and all steps and processes. It is a well-established fact that human beings cannot review large numbers of audit records and logs and reports without error. Today’s audit function is an adjunct to the security function, and as such is more important and critical than ever before. It should be part of the overall security strategy and implementation plan.

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